Often cordless tools serve as the “little brothers” of their more powerful corded siblings. But recent advances in battery technology have enabled tools that break that mold — like Ridgid’s MaxSelect reciprocating saw. Though it accepts the older Ridgid 18V NiCd batteries (use ‘em if you got ‘em), slapping in the latest 24V lithium-ion pack makes it really shine. Read on past the jump to see if the Ridgid can stand up to some major demolition testing.

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Ridgid recently updated their benchtop thickness planer line with a 3-cutter blade design. They say the triple-cutter design will mean smoother finishes on your work (read: less sanding). And the cutters are double edged, too, so you can flip them around and use the other edge to prolong the life of the blades.

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If you’ve ever wanted to see a Ridgid specialty tool firsthand before ordering it, you may soon get your wish. According to Ridgid’s website, all you have to do is select the products you want to see in action, and they’ll send over a representative with the tools.

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I always thought of air nailers like exotic European sports cars: very cool, nice to look at, and totally out of my league.  Guess what?  I was wrong.  Some of Ridgid’s models — like the R2138NA 2-1/8” brad nailer — are quite affordable and simple to operate.  After spending some time with one, I can’t believe I didn’t buy one long ago.  Read on past the jump for my hands-on experiences.

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First of all, we’d like to thank RIDGID for their generous offering of a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Look for reviews of these great tools from us soon — as well as some thoughts from our winner, Stuey.

Yes, that Stuey.  If you’ve spent more than ten minutes on TM, you’ve probably read some of his insightful comments.  He’s been hanging around since the very start, and considering the number of comments he’s left, it’s surprising it took this long for his name to pop up in our random selection processes. 

At any rate, he’s now one lucky dude as he’ll receive a set of just about all the pneumatic nailers RIDGID makes.  Assuming he’s bought a reasonable compressor, he’ll never hurt for nailers again.

Look for another comment-based giveaway soon, and we look forward to hearing what Stuey thinks of his gear when it arrives.

Borescopes have been common in some industries for decades, but price has kept them out of the home handyman’s reach until very recently.  Now ’scopes like Ridgid’s SeeSnake Micro (pictured) are pushing close to (and sometimes below) the $200 barrier.  Best of all, you can forget squinting into an eyepiece as it’s got a battery-powered LCD screen.

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We’re entering the home stretch on our RIDGID pneumatics giveaway — it wraps up at the end of June.  RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Later this month we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.

Not that you’re not already posting your thoughts here — and deserve a hearty “thank you” from me and the rest of the Toolmonger community — but when you post a comment, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win!  That’s good all ’round, yeah?

Toolmonger’s RIDGID Pneumatics Giveaway [Toolmonger]

We just wanted to remind you about our RIDGID pneumatics giveaway that’s wrapping up at the end of June.  RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Later this month we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.

Not that you’re not already posting your thoughts here — and deserve a hearty “thank you” from me and the rest of the Toolmonger community — but when you post a comment, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win!  That’s good all ’round, yeah?

Toolmonger’s RIDGID Pneumatics Giveaway [Toolmonger]

We just wanted to remind you about our RIDGID pneumatics giveaway that’s wrapping up at the end of June.  RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Later this month we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.

Not that you’re not already posting your thoughts here — and deserve a hearty “thank you” from me and the rest of the Toolmonger community — but when you post a comment, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win!  That’s good all ’round, yeah?

Toolmonger’s RIDGID Pneumatics Giveaway [Toolmonger]

We just wanted to remind you about our RIDGID pneumatics giveaway.  RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Sometime in June we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.

So, when you post a comment here, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win!  That’s good all ’round, yeah?

Toolmonger’s RIDGID Pneumatics Giveaway [Toolmonger]

The guys at RIDGID told us today that the Fuego compact framing saw — the one that we got a big kick out of a while back and gave away last Christmas — is going to be on sale at Home Depot for $99 this month — down from the normal (and still pretty good deal) $139.

The ‘Depot website still shows it at $139, but we’ve seen this happen before.  Their site is generally a little behind the times, so you’ll probably have to check out the local story in person (or better yet, call ahead) to find the deal.  At any rate, it’s worth it if you’re in need of a new — and very portable — saw.

We just wanted to remind you about our RIDGID pneumatics giveaway.  RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Sometime in June we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.

So, when you post a comment here, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win!  That’s good all ’round, yeah?

Toolmonger’s RIDGID Pneumatics Giveaway [Toolmonger]

We just wanted to remind you about our RIDGID pneumatics giveaway.  RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Sometime in June we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.

So, when you post a comment here, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win!  That’s good all ’round, yeah?

Toolmonger’s RIDGID Pneumatics Giveaway [Toolmonger]

RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a set of pneumatic tools for giveaway to one of our loyal readers. Here’s how it works: sometime in June we’ll select a comment from all the valid comments posted here on Toolmonger since today. The author of that comment receives the tools!  So, when you post a comment here, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win. Win what, you ask? You’d receive:

• Your choice of a round head or clipped head framing nailer
• A roofing nailer
• Your choice of a straight or angled finish nailer
• A brad nailer
• And a finish stapler

We’ve got a couple of hands-on posts scheduled in the next month to give you a bit more information about the line, but if you can’t wait that long, you can check ‘em out at any Home Depot.

Toolmonger’s RIDGID Pneumatics Giveaway [Toolmonger]

We just wanted to remind you about our MaxSelect combo kit giveaway.  RIDGID was kind enough to offer up a “build-your-own” MaxSelect combo kit for giveaway to one of our loyal readers.  Sometime in March we’ll select a winner from all of you who post valid comments here on Toolmonger since the giveaway started.

So, when you post a comment here, you’re not only sharing your experience with other Toolmongers around the world, you’re also adding a chance to win!  That’s good all ’round, yeah?

And if you haven’t had a chance to check out RIDGID’s MaxSelect line, give it a look.  The idea is that if you’ve already got some 18V or 24V RIDGID tools — or you pick up their sweet XLi hammerdrill — you can then buy “tool only” items from the rest of the line to create your own custom combo kit.

After giving away 25 Fuego saws last month, we were a bit weary and took some time off in January.  But when RIDGID gave us a call and asked if our readers might like a set of their new MaxSelect cordless power tools, who were we to decline?

The cool thing about the MaxSelect series is that the tools work with RIDGID’s 18V and 24V batteries, so if you’ve already bought a kit that includes the batteries and chargers, you can “build your own combo kit” by purchasing the remaining tools sans-battery at reasonable prices.  Our winner will receive an XLi hammerdrill kit (pictured above) — with batteries and charger — as well as his or her choice of two other tools from the MaxSelect line: a caulk gun, a jig saw, a recip saw, and a circ saw.

To be eligible to win, all you need to do is post a valid comment here on Toolmonger between now and sometime in March when we shut the contest off and select a winner.  We’ll choose randomly from all the comments posted, so the more you comment the more chances you have to win.

A word of advice, though: Don’t be a troll.  Post like “yeah” or “I agree” or “cool” or (my personal favorite) “Yeah, I want to win the prize, Bender’s great!” won’t count if we draw ‘em, so be serious.  Also, valid comments can come from anywhere on the site – not just on this post.  Just so you know.

We’re looking forward to your words of wisdom.

Phillip wrote to let us know that RIDGID’s running a contest on their site offering one lucky winner a free SeeSnake — their new borescope — in exchange for their personal information and a short essay explaining how you’d use the ’snake.

The unit itself looks pretty sweet.  It features a waterproof camera head and cable.  The camera head is shaped like a gun with a 2.5″ color LCD on the back to show you what’s going on at the other end.  It runs on four AA batteries and comes with a 3′ flexible camera cable, complete with adjustable LED lighting.

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